Phonograph.



M. 1. SAMUE'LS.

PHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION r1150 APR. 11. 1915.

Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

M. J. S-AMUELS.

PHONOGRAPH.

I APPLICATION FILED APR. 17, 1915. I 1,219,164. Patented Mar. 13, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

5] n ue n-foz W $13 A SHOW M. J. SAMUELS.

PHONOGRAPH.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. I915. 1,219,164. Patented Mar.13,1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

F @ymwg $1 attozuew MARK JAY SAMUELS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PHONOGRAPH.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented M3 13 1917- Application filedApril 17, 1915. Serial No. 21,983.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MARK JAY SAMUELs, a citizen ofthe United States, anda resident of the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and State of NewYork, have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Phonographs,of which the following is a description.

My invention relates to phonographs, and particularly to phonographs ofthe type which utilize disk records.

1 For the purpose of improving the appearance of phonographs of thistype, it has recently become popular to dispense with.

the sound amplifying horn and to use a wooden sounding board, or soundbox, situated in the support as a substitute for the horn. The resultsobtained by this substitution have been satisfactory to a certaindegree, but great difficulty is encountered in producing a number ofinstruments which will give exactly the same tone quality, since it ispractically impossible to obtain two pieces of wood for use as asounding board, or sound box, which are exactly the same.

To obviate this difficulty, and for other reasons which will hereinafterappear, my invention contemplates the use of an entirely metallic soundamplifying device which takes the place of the horn heretofore used andof the sounding board, orsound box, now commonly in use, and serves alsoas asupport for all of the remaining parts of the phonograph.

It is also an object of my invention to provide a sound amplifyingdevice which shall be composed entirely of metal, and in which thereshallbe no soldered joints, since I have found that soldered jointsinterfere considerably with the tone reproduction.

Another object of my invention is to provide improved means, preferablysupported by the sound amplifying device for driving the recordsupporting disk. This means consists essentially of a friction drivingwheel, the periphery of which is adapted to contactwith the lowersurface of the record supporting disk and thus impart rotary motionthereto. The advantages of such a driving means are that the speed ofthe record supporting disk is rendered more constant, and also that themanufacture of a friction driving wheel is less expensive than themanufacture of the tooth gear now commonly used.

Another object of myinvention is the prov1s1on of an arm for supportingthe sound reproducing device, which .arm is made of some material otherthan metal, such, for instance, as'hard rubber, whereby a loose ball andsocket connection between two metallic surfaces is dispensed with, thusimproving the tone quality.

Another ob ect of my invention is the provision of means forautomatically raising the sound reproducer from the record on the recordsupporting disk when the effective part of the record has been traversedby the sound producer.- With the above, and other ends in view, as willhereinafter appear, my invention consists in the apparatus, parts andcombinations disclosed in the drawing and described in thespecification, and more particularly pointed out in the 'claims whichfollow.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of my improved phonograph;

Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view with a portion of the sound amplifyingdevice removed;

Fig. 4 is rear elevation,'partly in section, showing the ball and socketconnection between the sound amplifying device and the arm forsupporting the sound reproducer;

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view showing particularly the springmotor; and

Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view.

Referring to the drawings, 10 designates the sound amplifying device.and is seen to consist ofa spirally arranged member, the cross sectionof which. increases gradually from the end 11 to the other end or mouth12. The top cover or wall 13 of the sound amplifying device preferablyextends across the entire device,1ncluding the central recess 14, inwhich is disposed the motor 15.

The cover 13 thus forms a-eonvenient support for the motor 15 and, asherein shown, the motor is suspended-from the cover 13, by means ofsuitable bolts 16, passing therethrough.

The motor 15 may be of any desired type, such, for instance, as a springmotor or an electric motor, the motor herein illustrated being a springmotor. The particular construction of this motor is not essential-to myinvention and, therefore, I will not describe it in detail. Suffice itto say that the spring drum 17 is geared in some suitable manner to thefriction wheel 18, which passes through the slot or opening 19 in thetop cover 13 of the sound amplifying device, and contacts with theunder-surface of the record supporting disk 20, which is supported insome suitable manner upon the cover 13. Means, such as the handle 21, isprovided for tensioning the spring drum 17. Also,

' it-is desirable to provide a governing device,

such as shown at 22, for. maintaining the speed of the motor and recordsupporting disk substantially constant during the operation thereof.Regulating means, such as indicated at23, may also be provided forvarying -the speed of the record supporting disk at will. At 24: isindicated some suitable means, in the nature of a friction brake,

acting on the edge of the record supporting disk for starting andstopping the rotation of the disk when desired. In Fig. 3 it is seenthat the bottom ofmy sound amplifying device is provided with a door 25over the central recess, whereby the motor may be inserted into therecess and access thereto may be had when desired.

The sound amplifying device, as above described, is composed entirely ofmetal-having as few joints as'possible, and the necessary joints arepreferably lap joints, whereby all soldering is eliminated. This isimportant, since I have discovered that the soldering of two pieces ofmetal in a sound reproducing instrument materially inter fers with thequality of the tone produced. Also it is seen that-the sound amplifyingdevice is constructed to provide a graduated passage, thereby improvingthe tone quality and, at the same time, reproducing the overtones whichare so often destroyed in sound reproducing devices.

At one side my sound amplifying device is provided with a projection 26,adapted to form a support for the arm 27, to which the reproducer 28connected, and to provide a means of communication between the soundamplifying device and the arm. This arm 27 is preferably supported uponthe projection 26 of the sound. amplifying de' vice by means of ball andsocket joint, such as is shown at 29, in Fig. 4. I prefer to constructthe arm 27 of some non-metallic material, such, for instance, as hardrubber, or some composition whereby I eliminate a loose joint betweentwo metallic surfaces, and thus avoid any interference with the toneproduction.

The method of operation of my improved phonograph should be apparentfrom the foregoing. A record having been placed on the disk 20, thebrake24 is removed from contact with the edge of the disk thus permitting themotor 15 to effect the rotation thereof. The reproducer 28 is thenplaced in contact with the record on the disk, and the device continuesto operate and, produce sound until the reproducer and its supportingarm 27 have moved toward the center sufficiently to cause cooperationbetween the cam 30 and projection 31, and the resulting elevation of thereproducer. The ro-. tation of the disk 20 will continue after thereproducer has been elevated, but this continued rotation is of nedisadvantage.

As above pointed out, by eliminating wood entirely from my apparatus andby using stamped, rather than'cast, metal, I am able to produce anynumber of instruments which will give exactly the same results, andthese results are found to be far superior to those obtained from woodeninstruments, because of the fact that in devices embodying my inventionthere are no irregularities or imperfections in the sound amplifyingelements.

The cost of manufacturing instruments embodying my invention is reducedto a minimum, since there are no excess parts. The sound amplifyingdevice serves not only its usual function, but also serves as a supportfor all of the other parts of the apparatus.

While I have shown and described a particular embodiment of myinvention, including a particular form of sound amplifying device, I donot wish to limit my self to this exact embodiment, since obviously machanges may be made therein without departing from the'spiritof myinvention.

What I claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a metallic sound amplifyingdevice arranged circularly to form a central recess and including acircular top plate which bridges said recess, a motor located in saidrecess and dependently supported from said a metallic sound amplifyingdevice arranged circularly to form a central recess,

10 said and including a cireular top plate which bridges said recess, amotor located in Said rewess and dependently supported from said plate,a record supporting disk adapted to be driven: by said motor, soundreproducing means adapted to cooperate with a record on the recordsupporting disk and communieating with thesound amplifying device, and abottom plate hingedly connected to amplifier, and adapted when closed tobridge the bottom of said recess. and when opento permit aeeess to saidmotor.

In testimony whereof I have signed this speelfieation in the presenee oftwo subserihmg witnesses.

MARK J AY SAMUELS.

Witnesses:

